Baton Rouge Flooding: Houston Efforts to Help Our Neighbors in Louisiana

Katie Montgomery Mears lives in West University with her husband, Whitney, but was born in Baton Rouge, LA. So when she heard about the historic flooding that occurred in southern Louisiana, she was “heartbroken.” Her family who still lives there were spared, fortunately, but she saw many distressing posts from friends and family who still live there on social media. She found out about the thousands of homes flooded, the 13 people whose lives were lost and the horrifying devastation that’s happened there. 

So she sent a message to a number of friends here in Houston, asking if they would be willing to get together to assemble UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) flood buckets for the victims.

“Though none of them are from Louisiana or have ever lived there at any point in their lives, their enthusiastic reaction offered me a glimpse of the giving spirit that is so emblematic of Houston,” Katie said. 

The initial goal was 30 flood buckets, but when she talked to a friend from her home church in Baton Rouge - where buckets like these were being handed out - he told her they went through 800 of them in an hour on the first day they were distributing them. They couldn’t keep enough in stock. So she messaged a larger group and, again, was overwhelmed by the response. In just a few days, more than 80 people sent money or dropped off supplies for the buckets. The contents of each bucket costs about $65. 

Last Thursday, 28 friends and neighbors of all ages got together and assembled 105 buckets. Whitney Walsh provided food and drinks for the group to enjoy while working hard. This week, they plan to load the buckets in a U-Haul and drive them to Baton Rouge to be distributed at Broadmoor United Methodist Church. They will also include thousands of diapers and hundreds of packages of baby formula, both of which are desperately needed in the shelters right now. Those will be donated to and distributed by the Junior League of Baton Rouge. 

One way to help is by shipping box fans directly to Baton Rouge. As many of us know from experience, unfortunately, mold abatement is one of the most urgent concerns in Louisiana at the moment. People need to air out their houses once they've cut out the sheetrock and flooring. Broadmoor UMC (10230 Mollylea Dr., Baton Rouge, LA 70815) is accepting fan shipments and are distributing them to flood victims. 

We were so heartened to see how Buzz neighbors helped neighbors out after the recent floods here in Houston and it’s just as inspiring to see neighbors helping our neighbors in Louisiana, too. 

Looking for other ways to help out families in Louisiana? See the Adopt a Louisiana family Facebook page to see posts about families in need. Know other ways that Houstonians can help? Please comment below or email us at [email protected].